Refrigerator car door structure



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 T. C. SODDY REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR STRUCTURE Sept. 1,1959 Filed June 24, 1957 m Y. I||

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Sept. l, 1959 T. c. soDDY REFRIGERATOR CAR DooR STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed June 24, 1957 nited States Patent 2,901,783 REFRIGERATOR CAR'Doon STRUCTURE Thomas C. Soddy, Chicago, Ul., assigner to ChicagoRailway Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., va corporation of IllinoisApplication June 24, 1951, serial N11-667,482 s claims. (C1. zii-zn Theinvention relates to railway house car `side door mounting structure andis particularly adapted, :but not limited, to relatively large heavyflush type doors movable into and out of an opening in the side wall,:suchas are in Vcommon use on refrigerator cars. Theinventioncontemplates the swinging of a door outwardly from its closedposition and then lengthwise of the car ,to a full open position, thedoor remaining parallel tothe -side Wall at all times. One example ofsuch a door is described in Gardner et al. application Serial No.416,170, filed March l5, 1954, now Patent No. 2,799,900, issued July 23,1957.

The objects of the invention are to support the door solely lat thebottom lor at the top; to prevent tilting or canting of the door on itssupport; to reduce the cost .of a door mounting of the parallel swinging:arm support type; to avoid the likelihood of injury to the doormounting by transport trucks or their contents colliding With the sideof the car; to minimize the cost of repairs :inthe event of suchcollision; and Vto provide added protection against door dropping due to'failure of one hinge arm or its mounting.

These and other detail objects of the invention are at tained in thestructure illustrated fin the accompanying drawings, in which:

lFigure l is a side view `of a portion ,of a railway house car includingand adjacent to the door and door mounting structure.

Figure 2 ris a vertical `transverse .section on Aline 2 2 of Figure l,but :drawn to a larger scale, with a portion of the door broken away.

ure l.

Figure 4 -is a horizontal section on line 4-4 Vof Figure l, but showingthe door halfway open.

Figure 5 is a detail View of the lower portion of a door embodying amodied mounting.

The car side wall, indicated at 1, is provided with a rectangularopening 3 for a pair or doors 5 and 7, door 5 being mounted by hinges 9on .the side wall at one side of the opening in the usual manner, andheld in closed position by shaft 11 and cranks 13 with pins 15engageable in brackets 17 on the car side. The shaft is rotatable byhandle 19 to lock and to release the door.

Door 7, which is larger and heavier than door 5, is suspended fromoverhead elongated horizontal arms 21, 23 each having a xed verticalaxis hinge pinned to a corresponding hinge butt 25, 27 respectivelysecured to wall 1 by elements 29. The hinge butts are sp-aced apartlengthwise of the car wall and are secured to the car wall independentlyof each other. Trunnions 31, 33 are secured to and depend from theswinging ends of arms 21, 23 respectively. An externally threaded sleeve35 is welded or otherwise secured to each trunnion. A nut 37 is threadedonto each sleeve 35 and supports a renewable bearing 39 which supportsthe lower end of a bracket 41 secured to the door. By means orf nut 37the door support may be adjusted vertically to t the door into theFigure '3 is Va Ahorizontal section on line 3-'3 of Figice 2 opening andto compensate for any play or sag which may `,develop in the supportingarm or its mounting. A lock aint 43 is associated with each nut 37.

The above described parts comprise the essential mounting structure forfthe door. Right hand trunnion 33 is shown as terminating immediatelybelow its threaded sleeve 35. l

Brackets 41 and the associated elements are spaced `equidistant from andat opposite sides of the vertical center line X of the door, therebydistributing the door weight .evenly to the lsupport arms and undernormal conditions avoiding tilting of the door.

To alord greater stability and to avoid undue lateral stress .on vthedoor supports, another elongated horizontal arm 45 is provided near thebottom of the door, and is similarly hinged .on a butt 47 secured to thecar Wall. The outer, or swinging, end of arm 45 terminates in a sleevejournaling the lower end of trunnion 3l which is elongated to .extendthe full height of the door. Arm 45 does not support/the door, butcontributes to holding the door .against tilting relative to -arms 21,23 and the car side.

The .door is provided with a locking shaft 49 with cranks 51 and pins 53engageable with brackets 55 for locking and releasing the door to andfrom the car side, when .the door is in .closed position, `by manualmanipulation of an operating handle 57. Handles 19 and 57 may beinterconnected when lthe doors are locked in closed position, so thathandle 19 must be operated before handle 57 may be operated, asdisclosedin the above mentioned co-pending patent application.

Figure 3 illustrates how the right hand door 5 overlaps the adjacentedge of the left hand door 7 and cooperates with the 'left hand doorlocking shaft to hold the wider door 4tightly closed. This arrangementalso provides for the .opening of the narrow door independently of thewider door, for inspection, or for the passage of va workman, `or asmall portion of the contents of the car, the wider door being openedwhen larger quantities of the contents are being moved 'through theopening, or Afor'the passage of a Wheeled container through theldoorway.

rFiigures ,3 .and 4 illustrate Vthe-.various positions -o'f the doors.as lthey are moved from closed to -open position, and vice versa. Whenthe .doors are fully open, lthey ilie substantially diat against Vthe-outer face 'of -the -car A'side wall, and .there are lno Sinterventiingmounting mechanisms causing `the* doors to project yfrom the carJsidewall substantially fantherthan the ythickness of `1the doors.y A

v iff a #transport trkuck is 'driven too .closely to vthe side -of thecar and collides with and damages the lower portion of the door o-r arm45, the injured parts may 'be repaired or replaced without requiringreplacement of the overhead door mounting parts. Indeed, the door andcar may remain in service, until the car may reach its intendeddestination or can be moved to a suitable repair shop, without removingthe car from the train, and without injury to the lading because ofAdelay in ship-ment while repairs are being made.

Another form of the invention is shown in Figurev 5 in which the lowerhinge arm 61 corresponds to the hinge arm 45 shown in Figures 1 4, andthe upper end of trunnion 63 is mounted on an upper arm (not shown)corresponding to that shown in Figure 1.

The third arm 65, corresponding in -function to arm 23 previouslydescribed, is mounted on the lower portion of the car side and door,thus providing a support beneath the door which may tend to stabilizethe door even though the short trunnion 67 or its securing means shouldfail.

Other variations in the details of the structure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and it is intended that thedetail structure described should be understood as being illustrativeand not definitive of the terminology of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway house car structure comprising a side wall having a dooropening, elongated horizontal arms spaced apart lengthwise of the walland each having an individual fixed axis on the wall above the level ofthe door opening and swinging horizontally on their hinges from aposition in which their swinging ends are in vertical alignment with thedoor opening to a position in which their swinging ends are spacedlengthwise of the car from said opening, and a rigid door journaled onand supported from the swinging ends of both of said arms and movable bythe swinging of said arms from a position in which the door lits withinsaid opening to a position in which it extends alongside said Wallbeyond an end of said opening.

2. A structure according to claim l in which the swinging ends of thearms are substantially equidistant from but at opposite sides of thevertical center line of the door and evenly distribute the door weightto said arms.

3. A railway house car structure comprising a side wall with an openingand a door therefor, and a door mounting comprising a pair of parallelhorizontal arms above the door opening and spaced apart lengthwise ofthe wall, each arm having a fixed axis hinge butt at one end secured tothe car wall, a similar arm below the door similarly mounted on the carwall lwith its hinge axis vertically aligned with the hinge axis of oneof said first-mentioned arms, a vertical trunnion journaled on the doorand connecting the swinging ends of two upper and lower arms havingvertically aligned hinge butts, and a vertical trunnion on the swingingend of the other arm of said pair of arms and journaled on the door at apoint spaced lengthwise of the door from the first trunnion.

4. In a railway house car, a side wall having a door opening, a doortherefor, and a mounting for the door comprising an elongated horizontalarm having a vertical-axis hinge, a cooperating hinge butt with elementssecuring it to the wall above the level of the top of the door opening,a similar arm below the level of the door and having a vertical-axishinge, a corresponding hinge butt with elements securing it to the wall,said hinge butts and their respective securing elements being separatefrom I I arm having a supporting trunnion connection to the door withits axis parallel to the other trunnion connections and spaced therefromsimilarly to the spacing of said hinge butts.

5. A structure according to claim 4 in which the trunnion connections ofthe two supporting anrrs are substantially equidistant from but atopposite sides of the door Vertical center line of the door and evenlydistribute the door Weight to said supporting arms.

6. In a railway house car, a side wall with a door opening, a doormovable into said opening with its outer face rliush with the outer faceof said side wall, 'door-mounting horizontal arms each having a hinge atone end fixed to the side wall and spaced from the other arm hingelengthwise of the side wall and positioned above the level of the topedge of the door, the swinging ends of said arms having vertical-axispivotal supports for the upper portion of the door and journaledthereon, whereby the arms may swing on said hinges relative to the sidewall and the door may swing on said pivotal supports relative to thearms and may remain parallel to the side wall while moving to a positionspaced `from said opening lengthwise of the side wall with the 'doorinner facel opposing the side wall throughout the length of the door.

7. Structure according to claim 6 which includes a third horizontal armhaving a hinge at one end fixed on the side wall independent of andspaced from the other arm hinges and positioned below the level of thebottom edge of the `door with its swinging end provided with a pivotalconnection journaled on the lower portion of the door whereby the lowerpart of the door is held by the lowerhorizontal arm against tilting onits pivotal connections to the supporting arms above the door.

8. In a railway house car with a side wall and a door opening, arms eachhinged at one end to the upper portion of the side wall above saidopening to swing horizontally, la door having fixed axis connections tothe swinging ends of said arms and movable, when said aims are swung ontheir hinges, to a position in -front of said opening and to anotherposition clearing said opening, an arm hinged at one end to the lowerportion of the car side wall to swing horizontally, elements pivotallyengaging the door to the swinging end of the latter-mentioned arm, tostabilize the door against tilting on the first-mentioned arms.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 565,286Le Gros Aug. 4, 1896 665,412 Dill Ian. 8, 1901 2,628,389 Madland Feb.17, 1953

